KUALA LUMPUR: Passenger movements across Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd
’s (MAHB) network reached 153.3 million last year, reflecting positive momentum as Visit Malaysia 2026 (VM26) gets underway.
MAHB said in a statement yesterday that its 39 local airports handled 104.4 million passengers, an 11.2% year-on-year (y-o-y) increase.
“Last December was the most demanding operational month, with 10 million passengers handled across airports nationwide, a 15.5% rise against a year ago.
“The month was defined by an intense festive peak between Christmas and New Year, when more than one million passengers were processed over a single three-day stretch,” MAHB said.
Its managing director Datuk Mohd Izani Ghani said the performance reflected the strength and readiness of the group’s airport network operations.
“Managing more than one million passengers over a concentrated three-day festive period reflects the effectiveness of our operational planning, close coordination with airline partners, and the dedication of our frontline teams nationwide,” he said.
Passenger numbers for last December were recorded across major airports, led by Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), which handled 6.1 million passengers, bringing its full-year total to 63.3 million, a 10.8% increase y-o-y.
Subang Airport posted the strongest month-on-month growth of 34.4% to 191,000 passengers from 142,000, while Kota Kinabalu International Airport saw passenger numbers grow 23.5% to 802,000.
Meanwhile, Langkawi International Airport recorded a 23% increase to 290,000, Penang International Airport rose 12.2% to 772,000, and Kuching International Airport, a 10.3% rise to 540,000 passengers.
MAHB said new services launched last December further strengthened connectivity at KLIA, including Xiamen Airlines’ thrice-weekly Hangzhou-Kuala Lumpur service at Terminal 2, 9 Air’s three weekly flights from Hangzhou, and Hainan Airlines’ twice-weekly Qionghai-Kuala Lumpur route.
“Batik Air Malaysia introduced six new services, including routes to Osaka (Kansai), Singapore (from Ipoh, Subang and Penang), Kualanamu in Medan, and Jakarta.
“Additional services were launched by Firefly with five weekly flights to Cebu, and Sichuan Airlines with three weekly services between Chongqing and Kuala Lumpur,” it said.
Meanwhile, MAHB said Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen International Airport in Turkiye handled 49 million passengers last year, up 17.5% y-o-y, with 4.2 million passengers last December alone.
MAHB said it remains focused on strengthening service resilience, enhancing capacity and advancing partnership-led growth across its airports as travel demand continues under VM26. — Bernama
